5 Tips to Help Eliaquim Mangala to Adjust to Life in the Premier League

Manchester City's acquisition this past summer likely made some Premier League sides feel like Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye.

"Some game. If you get on the side where all the hot-shots are, then it's a game, all right—I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side, where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game."

City had one glaring weakness at centre-back, and then they spent £32 million filling that hole.

So those same have-nots took early advantage of Mangala's inexperience in the Premier League, well, they did not have a hard time finding the words to express their excitement.

"We put Manchester City's back four to task and, in my opinion, they didn't hold up," chirped Sam Allardyce after Mangala and his teammates lost at Upton Park in October, per Neil Johnston of BBC Sport.

Since then, though, Mangala has steadily improved and City are on a flat-out tear.

Here are five suggestions for Mangala to keep the positive energy flowing his way.

Forget About What City Spent to Acquire You

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By now, what City spent to acquire Mangala is old news anyway.

Even with Manchester City's absurdly priced stars surrounding him, Eliaquim Mangala came to City with a blinking "£32 million" sign hovering over his head.

Maybe the money City spent to acquire Mangala got in his head earlier this season. Maybe not. Either way, there is no point for Mangala to ever think about how he ended up in a City shirt ever again.

Mangala is a Citizen now. He will ultimately be judged on how he plays, not what City spent to acquire him.

Sergio Aguero cost a reported £38 million to acquire, per a BBC Sport report. Does anyone give a second's thought to what Aguero cost now?

Conversely, Javi Garcia cost half what Mangala cost, according to Phil McNulty of BBC Sport, and he is widely considered a massive bust at City despite his relatively modest transfer fee from Benfica.

So Mangala should just play. That will be the deciding factor on how Mangala is seen when he leaves City, not his cost on the way in.

Disregard the Media

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Mangala's bad day at Hull City put a target on his back.

Eliaquim Mangala struggled for Manchester City at the KC Stadium in September. And don't think the ravenous media missed it.

"Mangala could be axed after Manchester City defender's Hull nightmare," bleated the Daily Mail's headline over Chris Wheeler's story. 

"Now Pellegrini must decide if he can trust Mangala after his 10-minute meltdown at Hull," Wheeler continued.

Reading this story, you would never believe that Mangala was capable of the last month he submitted. Mangala has made six straight starts in all competitions for City in Vincent Kompany's absence, including two Champions League Group E matches.

In a related story, City have won six straight matches.

Let Your Play Do the Talking

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Mangala should have left the Hull debacle in the past.

The road to perdition is paved with good intentions, which explains how Eliaquim Mangala made things unnecessarily worse recently by talking to the media.

Mangala was trying to explain how he could have played so well against Bayern Munich and AS Roma in high-stakes Champions League matches, yet struggled so much against a moribund side like Hull City.

"I’m still going through a settling-in period so coming up against teams like Hull and Palace this weekend and facing that typical English style, where it’s a long ball, high balls, balls in the air, big physical battles, fighting for every ball, that is the stuff I’m going to take longer to get used to," Mangala told the Daily Mail's Ian Ladyman.

Mangala's quotes were pointlessly unnecessary on two fronts.

First, everyone watched him struggle against Hull City. No one needed an explanation as to why.

Second, why let the opposition in on the aspects of the Premier League game that give you trouble? Why tell Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho how to beat you?

Dance with What Brung You

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There are going to be some cards shown the way Mangala plays, and he needs to roll with that.

Manchester City did not bring Eliaquim Mangala to the Etihad to turn him into a stylish defender in the mold of Gael Clichy or Bacary Sagna.

Mangala is 6'2" and for all we know may still grow another inch. More to the point, the Frenchman looks to be chiseled from expensive stone. City paid for Mangala's strength and willingness to use it.

So there will be the occasional red card. There will be the occasional time, too, where Mangala should get a red card and doesn't.

Mangala needs to continue to play physical, uncompromising football and let the officials let him know when they have seen enough.

Listen to the Boss

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As long as Pellegrini is satisfied, the secondary noise should fade into the background.

From day to day, the only voice Eliaquim Mangala should be paying close attention to is that of Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini.

And these days, anyway, the sounds coming from the manager about Mangala are encouraging.

"Of course we have a lot of trust in Mangala," said Pellegrini according to Richard Tanner in the Express. "That's why we bought him."

Pellegrini is wise to take the long view given City's investment in the defender. He is even wiser to make his willingness to be patient known.

"(W)e continue to trust in him because I am sure he is a very good player, he is a very young player, and he will be a very important centre-back for our team," Pellegrini said of Mangala in Tanner's piece.

That should be more than enough support for Mangala in the near term.